t2boats Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Hi all, Had the Ranger for a short while now and thought I'd show a few pix with regards to the upgrades I've made since new.. overall I'm hugely impressed with how easily it handles - just fitted the axle wideners this morning. But the 4x stub axles in the pack all fit the front no problems, but looks like I need a different pair for the rear I didn't realise that! With regards to any mods, it's only had the following: Alloy wheels 2S battery, this is mounted underslung of the battery tray between the upper end of the shocks. Help keep the centre of gravity down. Picked up a pair of 2200mah batteries and they're just the right width to not interfere with shock movement Raised the shell up approx 10mm (helps the suspension travel to not touch the wheel arches) Increased the suspension travel - this was easily achieved by cutting off approx 2mm from the rubber piping around the shock shafts - these are effectively the bumpstops like you'd have on any normal vehicle. Got a waterproof 9kg servo coming for the steering, will fit that when the stock servo gives up the ghost...whenever that will be.. I think that's probably as far as I'd like to go with it, it's been obvious to me that in stock form these are extremely capable crawlers for their price. An absolute bargain! I'd recommend the Outback to anyone, and the winner of the competition here surely won't be dissapointed.. Here's some pix! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Wish FTX would explain why the widening kit has four front axles and not two front and two rear. You'll need the rear axles. https://www.modelsport.co.uk/index.php?product_id=407353&gclid=CPjYveXs_9ACFUETGwodr_8BOw While the design is easy to mod it is very capable right out of the box. One crawler that crawls well as is. John 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stupar Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Are those the super cheap wheel and tyre set from China....approx £15 or so? If so what is the quality of the wheel like and are the tyres soft or hard. I have been contemplating buying a set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 Thanks John, I'll have a look for those! yes they're an eBay special lol £15 delivered. The machining is really neat, they feel good too! Well worth the money.. I changed the tyres to 108mm set as they came with 96mm, but they're just that tad narrower than the stock FTX tyres. So I'm ordering a set of FTX tyres (and the rear shafts!) pop those on as I know they're a good capable off-road tyre. Plus that bit wider to help get the best from the wide axle set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 The cheap tyres are actually pretty good but not as good as the stock Outback tyres. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 Just ordered a complete set of FTX tyres, and the rear wide axles. Thanks for that, don't know how I missed them on the parts list haha.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 I made exactly the same mistake when ordering the widening bits. The wide rear axles were on the website but didn't show up when clicking on the spare oarts list. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stupar Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Cheers for the info re the wheels/tyres. Think i will order them but mount the stock Vaterra Interco swampers to the wheels. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 (edited) On 19/12/2016 at 10:59, stupar said: Cheers for the info re the wheels/tyres. Think i will order them but mount the stock Vaterra Interco swampers to the wheels. Yeah I would too, the tyres that came with them seem alright, it's just they were only 96mm diameter, so I'd also ordered another set of crawler wheels/tyres 108mm - then when they arrived I noticed they were slightly narrower than the FTX tyres. Anyway, there's a stock FTX set and rear wide axles on their way now Edited December 29, 2016 by t2boats 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 (edited) They also arrived flippin quickly too! Took around 2wks which is great from that part of the world - as apposed to 2months like some items I've waited for Edited December 19, 2016 by t2boats 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Woohoo!! The wide rear axles have been posted and tyres, will fit them to the alloys.. will be making a video of it when there's a window in this naff stormy weather.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 (edited) Reminds me must fit the new wider rear axles to my Outback. Looks like being good weather for bashing on Sunday morning however may have other things to do that morning. John Edited December 23, 2016 by johninderby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Look what the posty brought this morning: Ok, I would show you a pic of the new tyres and axles - but I'm getting that annoying error message up again as it tries to upload the pic sometimes it works perfect and other times it sticks two fingers up at ya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 K, rant time!! For some reason loading up photos direct from my phone sometimes works and mostly not - my Photobucket is screwed aswell for some reason. Do any of you know of another online pic storage site which I can use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Crikey!! It's let me out two up... Here's the alloy wheels fitted with the stock FTX tyres which arrived via super-speedy delivery from MS as always! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Nope - for some reason it won't let me upload 3 simple photos of 1.2mb each.... yet it uploaded the other two above which were twice the size I think the Outback looks a lot more purposeful now with its wider axles and stock tyres fitted to the alloys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 The wider stance is subtle and looks good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 Just need a set of these hubs now. http://store.rc4wd.com/Scale-AisinYota-Style-Hubs_p_1504.html John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Haha.. where do we stop with these things eh! ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 I was looking at winches earlier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 7 minutes ago, t2boats said: Haha.. where do we stop with these things eh! ??? When the bank accounts empty? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 I think I'll stop now before I get a big overdraft I'm happy with where the Outback is for the time being, I'm eager to get out and take some decent video. I've got the ideal location down the lane near mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post t2boats Posted December 26, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 26, 2016 Made a video of the Ranger! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t2boats Posted December 29, 2016 Author Share Posted December 29, 2016 (edited) I've been really impressed with it to be fair, though it's my first ever rock crawler so no other real comparison first hand, only from what I've seen on video and what other folk have said who own other crawlers aswell as this. But for the price, £135, I think it's an absolute bargain! And don't ya just love waterproof electrics knowing it said waterproof on the box I still had a slight reservation as to how well they were waterproof - but thought, bugger it - and in the wet stuff it went! And it kept on going WOOHOO!! Mods so far: Lipo 2S (underslung of the tray between the shocks to help keep CofG down) Thicker shock oil Tubing around shock shafts clipped to allow more travel FTX front and rear 5mm axle wideners Alloy wheels Bodyshell raised 10mm to help accommodate the suspension travel And a waterproof 9kg steering servo for if/when the stock servo gives up. I would also consider fitting a 540 motor, see how it handles that. There is a vid on YouTube already of someone who's fitted one. Though the 370 is more than capable in everything I've put it to so far.. Edited December 29, 2016 by t2boats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderman Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Hi Everyone, I'm totally new on this forum and not sure if I'm butting in? so apologies if I am. Due to following this forum and the very good comments about the FTX Outback's being a great starter I went and purchased the Ranger which looks very capable and well made for the money. I have no experience with R/C Cars or Crawlers, I've been a model boat man in the past. As it states its waterproof and on watching the video footage I was wondering if anyone can tell me if the axles are filled with grease to stop water ingress ? On model boats we fill the prop tubes with grease to stop water entering the hulls, do Crawlers need the same protection? I intend to follow some of the mods that have been detailed as I can't resist making it my own so to speak ! Many Thanks, John 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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